


Inseparable As Life And Death

by ambiguous_sanskars



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Cuddling, Domestic Fluff, Immortal Husbands Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Intensely Requited Love, Kissing, M/M, Nicky thinks Joe has lost his immortality, Panic Attack, at least I tried to write angst, but actually he's fine, let's be real its mostly fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:34:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29591493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambiguous_sanskars/pseuds/ambiguous_sanskars
Summary: “Joe. If I ask you a question, do you promise not to lie to me?”“I- Nicolò! God forbid I ever lie to you, my heart. Why would you need to ask such a thing?”“Are you still healing?”Joe froze.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 46
Kudos: 313





	Inseparable As Life And Death

**Author's Note:**

> Right so I can't actually write angst but this plot bunny was wrecking havoc in my brain and I needed to get it out, so here goes.
> 
> Sort of a companion piece to [ This Life Well Shared](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28673874). I wanted to explore the opposite scenario of how Nicky would react if he thought Joe had lost his immortality (TW: he has a panic attack).
> 
> Ends happy and soft as always <3

In the end, Nicky thought, it was the most pedestrian thing. He wouldn’t even have looked twice, had he not already been on edge from when Joe had spilled hot coffee on himself at breakfast.

Joe was spending the afternoon with Nile at a convention, and Nicky had decided to make the most of his solitude by cleaning their entire house from floor to ceiling. He was sweeping their bathroom when he saw it - two small, oddly-shaped pieces of wax paper that hadn’t quite made it into the dustbin. He bent down to take a closer look.

Something about them was familiar. Something was _wrong_. Nicky set down the broom and dust pan. He picked the bits of paper up to examine them. Then, his gaze snagged on something in the dustbin, and the chilling reality of what he was holding clicked into place.

It was a Band-Aid wrapper. The wax paper had been peeled off the sticky edges so the Band-Aid could be used. Which was ridiculous. Ridiculous, because they didn’t need Band-Aids. They healed instantly.

Nicky took a measured breath and stood up slowly. He walked back into the bedroom and picked up his cell phone.

“Hello? Andromache? Yes, I just wanted to ask real fast - did you by any chance come by our place since we saw you last weekend?” He paused. “No, no, I know. Yes, I know we asked for time off, of course you would call ahead.” He listened as Andy asked if he and Joe were okay, concern creeping into her voice. “Yeah, boss, we’re fine. But, ah, something just came up. I’ll call you back.”

He knew Andy wouldn’t buy it; he’d hung up way too abruptly. But Nicky needed time to think, he just needed a moment, one moment of quiet, could the ringing in his ears just shut up for _one_ damn second-

He sat down on the edge of their bed and took a deep, deliberate breath. Why would there be a used Band-Aid wrapper in his and Joe’s house? Nicky had just given himself a papercut while clearing the stack of junk mail in the living room, and his immortality was still working. So that left Joe. But Joe’s immortality had to be working too, because… 

_Because we have to go together_ , Nicky thought, devastated. _That’s the rule. That’s how it fucking works_.

No one knew for sure how their immortality worked. He tried taking another deep breath, but it didn’t feel like any oxygen was reaching his lungs. He rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes, and they came away wet.

Nicky startled as a ragged sob was ripped out of him. When had he started crying? Why couldn’t he catch his breath? He slid to the floor and kneeled next to their bed, curling in on himself as he gasped for air. His heart thudded like it wanted to beat out of his chest.

_Yusuf_ , he thought as his vision splotched black around the edges. He blinked rapidly at the worn bedskirt. What was going on? He reached around for his phone to text Joe, but suddenly couldn’t find it. _Yusuf, come back, come home_ , he begged, giving in to the darkness as his head dropped heavily to the floor.

Nicky woke an indeterminate amount of time later, disoriented and tucked into bed. The curtains had been drawn and the lights shut off, but a couple candles flickered softly on their dresser. There was a covered glass of water next to him.

Nicky groaned, sitting up against the headboard. Despite the tremor in his hand, he managed to down the entire glass without spilling a drop. As he set it back down, the bedroom door cracked open.

“Nicky?” Joe’s eyes widened when he saw Nicky awake. He silently closed the door behind him and practically ran to Nicky’s side. 

Joe sat down in front of Nicky and reached for his hand, raising it helplessly to his trembling lips. Joe kissed his palm, his knuckles, his fingertips, as if grounding himself against some great weight. Nicky didn’t miss the way Joe’s fingers flitted around his wrist, as if Joe was resisting the urge to press his fingers to the pulse there.

“ _Amore mio_ ,” Joe asked, voice cracking a bit. “What happened? You were- you wouldn’t wake up. Oh my love, why didn’t you call me?”

“I couldn’t find my phone,” Nicky replied. He furrowed his brow, trying to piece together the disjoint bits of memory floating around in his head.

“It was centimeters from your fingertips.”

“I don’t know, Joe, I-” Suddenly, Nicky’s eyes widened in realization. He gripped Joe’s shoulders and looked into his eyes, dead serious. “Joe. If I ask you a question, do you promise not to lie to me?”

“I- Nicolò! God forbid I ever lie to you, my heart. Why would you need to ask such a thing?”

“Are you still healing?”

Joe froze. “Wait. Wait, Nicky, are you-”

“Answer the question, Joe.”

Joe reached up to clutch Nicky’s wrists where his hands still rested on Joe’s shoulders. “Yes,” he whispered. “I- I broke a glass in the kitchen, on accident, when I went to get you water just now. A small shard got stuck in my hand. But it healed completely, I’m fine now.”

“Show me,” Nicky demanded, uncharacteristically firm. “Where? Which hand?”

“Here. This one,” Joe splayed his left hand out in Nicky’s palm, watching as he inspected it thoroughly. “Nicky?”

“What?”

“Please, _amore_ -” Joe swallowed around the lump in his throat. “Please, if you can, tell me what happened? You were unconscious when I came back, and…”

He trailed off, looking down at the bedsheet to hide the unfairly persistent tears pooling in his eyes. Nicky made a soft noise of concern, reaching out to cup Joe’s face tenderly.

“ _Hayati_ , I didn’t mean to scare you. I think it might have just been a particularly bad panic attack.”

“You rarely get panic attacks without triggers.”

“Yeah. Nothing major happened, it was just- I found- Joe, there was a Band-Aid wrapper in our bathroom. Do you know how it got there?”

Joe snapped his gaze up to meet Nicky’s. “Hold on, that’s what this whole thing has been about?! Nicolò, _ya amar_ , you could have just asked me. Remember when I went for a walk last night? There was a toddler who fell down in the park, and his mom had her hands full with an infant, so she asked if I could help her put a Band-Aid on his scrape. There were no trash cans nearby, so I waited until I got home to throw the wrapper away. My heart, you couldn’t seriously have thought I would lose my immortality and… _not_ tell you?”

There was a suspended pause. Then, Nicky looked away. “Forgive me, Yusuf.”

“No,” Joe choked out. “If I have given you any reason at all to believe that I would hide such a thing from you, then it is I who should beg your forgiveness. I’m sorry, Nicky. I promise, I swear on all that is holy, on our very love, that you will be the first person I tell when that day comes. Please, my life, I-”

“I know, Joe. I know. I’m so sorry for thinking otherwise. Come here,” Nicky pulled his husband into his arms, leaning back against the headboard and tugging the duvet over them both. “Just stay with me for now, like this. I need to hold you. I need to feel that you’re okay.”

Joe drew a shaky breath, inhaling Nicky’s scent and pressing a languid kiss to his collarbone. He wrapped his arms around Nicky’s waist. “I’m okay. I’m always okay with you. Nothing can take me away from you. You know that, right?”

Nicky hummed, smiling into Joe’s hair. “Of course. _Ti amo così tanto, tesoro_. Just stay a moment more, and then we’ll see about dinner. You’re probably hungry after the convention.”

“Mmm,” Joe nuzzled closer. “It’s also fine if you want to just hold me like this forever, you know. I don’t mind.”

Nicky laughed softly, and Joe felt it like a gentle roll of thunder beneath where his head lay on Nicky’s sternum.

“Worry makes people insane, doesn’t it?” Nicky murmured after a beat.

Joe tilted his chin up to look at his husband, who promptly took advantage of the angle to lay a kiss on Joe’s parted lips. “You’re not insane, _amore_.”

“I shouldn’t have doubted you.”

Joe sighed, relaxing back down in Nicky’s arms. “Next time, just text me instead of literally passing out with panic, okay?”

Nicky’s eyes crinkled in a warm smile. “Okay. I promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> Alright that's enough *opens back door for plot bunny to run out* Hope y'all enjoyed this!
> 
> (also life update: YOU GUYS I GOT INTO MEDICAL SCHOOL. AHHH.)
> 
> Comments and kudos appreciated as always! (but no pressure obviously <3)


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